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ABOUT

Name: Kaden "Kash" Daniels Age: 37 Gender & Pronouns: Cismale & he/him Occupation: Day Hand at Matacuna Feeders Affiliation and Position: Neutral

Quote: “When the misery is bad enough, tomorrow is rarely factored into decisions.”

BIOGRAPHY

Triggers: child loss mention, death mention, drug abuse mention

Born in Tennessee Kaden Daniels was raised along the banks of the Mississippi mud, never given a chance to be anything but the down-home country boy, which had always suited Kaden just fine. His daddy was a colt starter and former rodeo champion, having won national titles for roping and reining. From the moment Kaden could waddle he was following his daddy around everywhere, at first just watching as his father worked and as he got older helping with the chores himself. He found that spending time tending to the many horses was cathartic and volunteered for just about any chore that would get him around them. Never once did he need to be asked to pitch in to do what was needed at the family ranch, from picking vegetables in the garden for his mama to helping his daddy check the cattle fences. As far as most childhoods go, his was pretty perfect. Sure, sometimes his dad drank too much and sometimes his mom just would not stop fussing over him, but he had no cause to complain.

His father, seeing his boy take an interest in horses at such a young age decided to help Kaden begin to follow in his footsteps. As a kid he enrolled Kaden in the pee-wee portion of rodeos where his wife would take pictures of the young boy struggling to stay on the back of a wildly running sheep, but in the end, he stayed on. He almost always did. With natural talent like that his father was quick to get his son started on the path to becoming a bull-rider. His mama threw fits and got into fights with his daddy, it was too dangerous, he could be hurt, killed even, but as he got older and started to have a mind of his own there was nothing that he wanted to do more. So he practiced, and practiced. By sixteen he was competing on broncs, a safer alternative to the bull, and was cleaning up at junior rodeos, his room becoming full of belt buckles, the tack room full of all the special made trophy tack he had won. But being bucked was far from his only talent. At age ten he broke his very first colt and at twelve he was winning local roping competitions. He even became adept at helping his dad sort and catch cattle, something he was never fond of but did anyways as it was expected of him. Despite how it sounds, his childhood wasn’t all work. While never the best in school he managed to get passing marks and had a group of boys he roughhoused and fucked around with who were constantly getting him into trouble as a teenager.

Fast forward a few years and he was one of the hottest young bull riders to hit the circuit. But his career as a rider didn’t last as long as anyone would have hoped. The reason? He fell in love. Some would have called the pretty woman he fell in love with a buckle bunny, what with her affinity of dating all the big rodeo stars, but when him and her spent one night together the rest was history. Now twenty-two and married with a baby on the way, Kaden knew he could not be as pell mell as he had been for the past few years. He now had a family to think about; and so, he quit bull riding and switched exclusively to broncs. It was still dangerous, but the risks less than if he was on the back of a bull. Life went on and for the most part the little family was happy, until tragedy struck. On the night of his twenty-eighth birthday, with his wife and little girl in the stands, he overtightened the strap around his hand. At first everything seemed to be going well, he had one of his best times, but as he threw himself off the bucking bronco his hand caught. It was an instant disaster. The animal began to panic, bucking harder and higher, with Kaden hanging on for dear life. His only blessing was that the first hoof to his head knocked him out cold. He was rammed into the side of the fence and drug for minutes before those in charge of wrangling the horse were finally able to calm it down. In the midst of the chaos, his wife, fretting over her husband, had not noticed her daughter slip down through the stands calling out for her daddy. No one noticed her presence in the ring until it was too late. All it took was one wrong move from the frightened animal and the sunshine of Kaden’s life was no more.

The blow to Kaden’s own head had been so severe that he was kept in a medically induced coma for two-weeks, giving the wounded flesh time to heal. When he awoke, his whole world was shattered. He grieved, and as he did his grief turned to anger. Anger at the situation, anger at the long arduous healing process, and anger at himself. But all that anger had to go somewhere, and with the only person around during his recovery being his wife, she took the brunt of it. It took him a little over a year to fully heal physically, and during that time he began to develop a dependency on his pain medication. He spent his days sitting in front of the tv drinking beer after beer on top of the opiates as his wife worked in a small diner to try and keep the roof over their heads. One day, a year and half after the tragic accident, the woman had decided that she had had enough. She gave Kaden an ultimatum, get help or she was gone. It led to the largest fight yet, a massive blowout that made it clear where Kaden stood. Two months later Kaden was arrested for possesion with intent to distribute and spent two years in jail. 

When he was released he was nearing twenty-nine and with nowhere else to go moved back in with his parents. His father though older now was still tough as nails and no patience for his son’s pansiness as he called it. He put Kaden to work. Sober or not he was expected to help, and if he didn’t, God help him. At first he railed, his rage boiling over and eclipsing everything. Rather than argue with his son, the elder Daniels simply gave him a new task. It would be his only job- start the colts. It was something Kaden had used to excel at, but his anger and rage at the horse’s mis compliance made things difficult. The gentle animals became scared of him and began to lash out. One colt in particular, a beautiful bay, resented Kaden more than any of the others, and he let him know it. That was Kaden’s wake up call. He ended up forming a bond with that colt that pulled him out of his stupor and set him back on track. His special relationship with that animal also earned him a nickname, Kash, because wherever Kash went, Johnny followed, drawn to the dolcent songs Kaden would always croon to Johnny. Hence: Johnny and Kash aka the country singer Johnny Cash. It was a clever nickname that soon became a permanent moniker. The pair competed in countless roping and reining competitions, and for the next years, Kash allowed himself to feel the happiness that had come into his life. 

A part of that happiness came in the form of another cowboy type, JD Culpepper. With Kash’s travel all over the countryside, picking up odd jobs here and there, it was a slow romance. At first neither party really admitted to the other how they felt. There was heat, passion, and then somewhere along the way the beginnings of love. It scared Kash to no end, being on the verge of the first real relationship he had been in since the divorce from his wife. Things were moving steadily, until they weren’t. JD vanished, ghosting him one day when they had been scheduled to meet in the same town. Kash waited for a week before deciding it was time to move on. The rejection hurt, ripping him open in a way he hadn’t expected and refused to acknowledge. Two months after his partner vanished was when Johnny came up lame with an injury too bad to fix, leaving Kash the tough choice of having to put his beloved companion down.  

Without the man who had become his support system the loss of his friend sent Kaden ass-first back into the destructive patterns of his life, drugs and alcohol once more waging war inside his body. Only this time he wasn’t a young man, and the substances were taking a heavy toll on his health, not that he cared. His parents, unable to reach him, packed his things and kicked him out. Kash’s father, unable to completely give up on his son, reached out to an old friend who owned a cattle ranch in Texas. For over a year Kash lived there, forced to claw his way back to sobriety through back-breaking labor. The option was always there for him to quit the job, fend for himself, but the company of the horses and being the source of looking after their well-being brought him back from the brink much like it had the last time. A year and a half later he was completely back on the wagon, though he can be known to slip with the drinking whenever the subject of his daughter is brought to the forefront of his mind, mainly around birthdays, his and hers, as well as holidays. 

Wanting more independence Kash turned in his resignation, thanking his father’s friend for getting him back on his feet. With a firm grasp on his addiction, Kaden set back out onto the rodeo circuit. He continued to travel and compete. Picking up odd-jobs along the way to keep his simple lifestyle afloat. Until he started working at a feedlot called Matacuna Feeders. He’d intended to just pick up some day work while competing in the rodeo at the local arena when he saw him. JD. Out inspecting some of the livestock. His heart fluttered and desire turned to anger burning deep in his chest. He has yet to confront him, but the day is fast approaching.

PLOT ARC.

Kash is currently neutral. As the son of a farmer, he doesn’t care for big business, and is naturally against corporations like Obsidian Holdings. That doesn’t mean he’s going to take action against them, just that he doesn’t agree with what they do, how they do it, or their ideals. There is a chance he could be swayed to the Cowboy Mafia. It will be largely dependent on how things go with his ex, who’s a top hand. If their reunion ends well, Kash could find himself being dragged into more Cowboy business. For now he’s content using his skills to be a simple day hand at the feed lot and competing in local rodeos.